RICK SMITH: Spiritual message inspires writer

The Spirit of the Lord is Within You! was written by Linda Martin and illustrated by JoNell Richardson.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - San Angeloan Linda Martin said when God called her, she listened.

A professional photographer for 30 years, the San Angelo woman no longer loved what she did for a living.

"My passion for photography had died," she said.

She prayed.

"I said, ‘OK Lord, I'm listening.' Nothing happened, but I knew he was about to reveal what it was. I felt like a child at Christmas. God had something great in store, and I could hardly wait to unwrap it.

"I tried to be still and listen. He had my attention, but what was I supposed to do?"

Then she knew.

She said God "planted in my heart the idea of writing small inspirational books." She imagined small, easy-to-read books. One on marriage, another on families.

"Simple stories someone could pick up and read in a matter of minutes and feel inspired, connected."

She sat down and wrote a story. "It is the first story that He told me to do," she said. "It's a book on our relationships with God. A simple book."

But writing "The Spirit of the Lord is Within You" wasn't an easy task.

At one point Linda put away her writing for six months.

"I couldn't look at it," she said. "I was doubting that this is what I was supposed to do. Was I on the right track?"

"Then, as I was driving down the road, He said, ‘Stop! Do what I told you to do.'"

She did, "and it's been an amazing journey," Linda said.

"If by sharing these stories, if they can make a difference in one person's life, I've done what He's asked me to do."

San Angelo artist JoNell Richardson illustrated the book.

Her illustrations "brought to life the words placed in my heart," Linda wrote in the small, colorful book.

JoNell said the book has helped her work through her grieving for her sister, who died last summer.

"You learn every time you do something," she said. "I felt very thankful I had this outlet to be able to deal with my period of mourning."

JoNell said she feels like God paired her with Linda to work on the book.

"It was an honor," she said. "The book evolved. We just kept going. One page at a time. That's what God wanted."

"The Spirit of the Lord is Within You" is available at Myers Drug, Brother Leo's Gift Shop, Hastings Entertainment and Amazon.com.

angel in Angelo

He is an older man with long hair, a beard and a terminal disease.

She is his wife, who quit her job to take care of him.

Money is tight.

She worries about her husband, who was expected to die from his disease last September.

"But he's hanging in there," she said softly.

Monday, they went to a San Angelo pharmacy to pick up his medication.

It was more than they expected, more than they could afford.

While they stood by the pharmacy in the store, wondering what to do next, an older woman stepped up, opened her purse and gave them $200 in cash, more than enough for the medicine.

The donor wouldn't take the change.

"For groceries," she told the couple.

"She was as nice as she could be," the ill man's wife told me Tuesday morning when she came to the newspaper office to tell of the woman's generosity.

"I started crying," she said, tearing up once again. Others in the store had cried too, she told me.

"The woman who helped us was an angel," she said, wiping her eyes. "An Angel!"

"Angels are everywhere."

Rick Smith is a local news and community affairs columnist. Contact Rick at rsmith@gosanangelo.com or 659-8248.